There are several innovative methods and technologies that can be employed to transform plastic waste into renewable resources, promoting sustainability and reducing environmental pollution and hazards. Some of these methods include:

1. Plastic-to-fuel (PTF) technology: This process converts plastic waste into fuel, such as diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel, through pyrolysis or gasification.
2. Plastic-to-chemicals (PTC) technology: This process converts plastic waste into chemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, or butadiene, which can be used to produce a wide range of products, including plastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.
3. Biodegradation: Microorganisms like bacteria or fungi can break down plastic waste into simpler molecules, which can then be converted into biofuels, bioplastics, or other valuable chemicals.
4. Mechanical recycling: This process involves breaking down plastic waste into smaller pieces and re-melting it to create new products, such as packaging materials or consumer goods.
5. Chemical recycling: This process involves breaking down plastic waste into its original chemical building blocks, which can then be used to produce new plastics or other products.
6. Upcycling: This process involves transforming plastic waste into higher-value products than the original material, such as turning plastic bottles into new packaging materials or clothing.
7. Anaerobic digestion: This process involves breaking down organic matter in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas (a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide), which can be used as a renewable energy source.
8. Pyrolysis oil production: This process involves heating plastic waste in the absence of oxygen to produce a liquid oil that can be used as a fuel or feedstock for chemical production.
9. Gasification: This process involves heating plastic waste in the presence of limited oxygen to produce a synthesis gas (syngas) that can be used to produce electricity, heat, or chemicals.
10. Bio-based plastics: This involves using biological sources like corn starch, sugarcane, or potato starch to produce biodegradable plastics that can replace traditional plastics.

These innovative methods and technologies have the potential to:

• Reduce plastic waste sent to landfills and oceans
• Decrease greenhouse gas emissions from traditional fossil fuel-based production processes
• Create new revenue streams from the recycling and upcycling of plastic waste
• Develop sustainable and closed-loop production systems
• Promote a circular economy by reducing the use of virgin resources and the production of new plastic.

Here are some effective strategies to learn English:

1. Immerse yourself in the language: Listen to English music, watch English movies or TV shows, read English books or articles, and speak with native speakers.
2. Set goals and track progress: Set specific goals, such as improving grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation. Track your progress and adjust your strategy accordingly.
3. Focus on grammar and vocabulary: Understanding the grammar rules and building a strong vocabulary are essential for effective communication. Practice with exercises, quizzes, and games.
4. Practice active listening and speaking: Speak as much as possible, even if it’s just with yourself. Listen to native speakers and try to mimic their pronunciation and intonation.
5. Use flashcards and other memory aids: Flashcards can help you memorize new vocabulary words and their meanings. You can also use apps like Quizlet or Anki to create digital flashcards.
6. Join a language exchange or conversation group: Practice speaking with native speakers or other learners through online platforms like Tandem, HelloTalk, or language exchange websites.
7. Read extensively: Reading is one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary and comprehension. Start with simple texts and gradually move on to more complex materials.
8. Take online courses or get a tutor: Online courses like Duolingo, Coursera, or edX offer interactive lessons and exercises. Working with a tutor can provide personalized feedback and guidance.
9. Use authentic materials: Use real-life materials like news articles, videos, podcasts, or social media to improve your listening and reading comprehension.
10. Practice consistently: Make language learning a habit by setting aside time each day to practice, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
11. Focus on pronunciation: Pay attention to the sounds, intonation, and rhythm of native speakers. Practice speaking slowly and clearly to improve your pronunciation.
12. Use mnemonic devices: Create associations between words and meanings using visual or auditory aids to help you remember new vocabulary.
13. Learn idioms and colloquialisms: Learn common expressions, idioms, and phrasal verbs that native speakers use in everyday conversations.
14. Get feedback from native speakers: Ask native speakers to correct your pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary usage to improve your language skills.
15. Be patient and persistent: Learning a language takes time and effort. Don’t get discouraged by mistakes or setbacks – keep practicing and you’ll see improvement over time.

The Kakatiyas ruled parts of the present-day Andhra Pradesh and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha from 1083 CE to 1323 CE. They were the first feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyana. The Kakatiya dynasty made several contributions and hence, left an indelible mark in the fields of architecture and literature, as discussed:

a. Architecture

• They carried forward the stellate temple form and adopted the Vesara style of Vimana from the Chalukyas and customised it as per the cultural geography of Telangana.
  • Their use of simple materials like sand in the construction of foundation of a lofty temple making it an earthquake resistant structure is a masterpiece in the field of construction and geo-technology.
  • The distinct style of Kakatiyas for the gateways to temple complexes confirms the highly evolved proportions of aesthetics in temple and town gateways in South India.
• The use of engineering innovation by creating floating bricks, sand-box foundations, material selection knowledge and ingenuity in stone sculpting as a technological ensemble at Rudreshwara Temple, at Palampet, Mulugu district, near Warangal is a masterpiece of Kakatiyan style of Temple architecture.
• An interesting feature of Warangal fort temple is there are four gateways called ‘’ Kirti Stambhas’’ which face the four cardinal points of the compass.

b. Literature

• As great patrons of art and literature, the Kakatiyas took initiatives to promote Sanskrit, because of which there was revival of Sanskrit literature during this period.
• Telugu literature itself reached a level of maturity during this period. in the 14th century during the Kakatiya period.
• Nritta Ratnavali authored in 1253 A. D. Jayasenapati was inspired from the dancing female figures carved in Ramappa Temple.

The famous Italian merchant and explorer Marco Polo had remarked highly about the art and architecture of the Kakatiya dynasty. He held the Rudreshwara Temple as the brightest star in the galaxy of medieval temples of the Deccan, establishing the indelible contribution of the Kakatiya dynasty.

With the fall of Kabul, the Taliban is in control over Afghanistan 20 years after US-led forces deposed the organization. This generated a sense of panic, leading to a mass exodus of foreign diplomatic missions and local Afghans and a commiserate return of human rights violations, which the United Nations had warned could become a full-blown “humanitarian catastrophe.”The return of Taliban to power not only bodes ill for the ordinary Afghan population but also threatens the regional and international security architecture in multiple ways.

Link Between Taliban And Drug Business

1. The vast majority of the world’s opium and heroin comes from Afghanistan, with production and exports centred in areas controlled by the Taliban, which has taxed the drugs heavily during their 20-year insurgency.
2. The United States spent around $8.6 billion from 2002 to 2017 in its doomed effort to combat the drugs trade, according to a 2018 report from the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR). These efforts included paying farmers to grow wheat or saffron, investing in transport links, as well as spraying defoliants on crops and bombing refining facilities.
3. At each step, the efforts to control drug trade were thwarted by Taliban fighters who controlled the main poppy-growing regions and derived hundreds of millions of dollars from the industry, according to US and erstwhile Afghan government estimates.
4. According to a report of the UN Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), in 2020, there was a 37- percent increase in opium cultivation in Afghanistan. The Taliban had previously used drugs as a major revenue model, making drug trafficking a major part of the organization’s economy.
5. Previously, the Taliban had tried to ban poppy cultivation in the early 2000s to obtain international legitimacy; however, this met with a significant backlash, which forced the organization to change its stance. These factors led UNODC to claim that Afghanistan is on the path to becoming a “full-fledged narco-state.
6. With the Taliban’s lack of effective understanding of public administration and policy, the organization had always counted on drugs to fund its objectives. As per an official UN report, the Taliban earned more than USD 400 million between 2018 and 2019 from the drug trade.
7. As a landlocked nation, Afghanistan is heavily dependent on the various border passes like Zaranj in the Afghan–Iranian border for the transit of goods. The control of these border crossing points, with Tajikistan in the north, Iran in the west, and Pakistan in the south, allows the Taliban to traffic drugs more easily.
8. With the ever-growing demand of these illicit products, the coming of a supplier like the Taliban will boost the global drug problem, posing a major challenge to the regional nations and rendering them the epicenter for drug abuses and peddling.

Challenges In Forms Of Increased Drug Usage Due To Resurgence Of Taliban

1. Resurgence of Taliban will have profound implications for the global drug problem. In the era of globalization, an Afghan narco-state will not only pose a major challenge for the region including India but also provide greater supplies to the lucrative markets in Europe and North America, making it a major security issue.
2. According to the World Drug Report 2021, India has become a major centre of drug consumption. The report said India was also linked to shipments of drugs sold on 19 major darknet markets analysed between 2011 and 2020.
3. India is vulnerable to narcotic drug trafficking as it is located between two largest Opium producing regions of the world i.e. Golden Crescent in the west and Golden Triangle in the east. Drug trafficking and abuse also pose serious threats to our societies.
4. India’s interests in Afghanistan are manifold. It is not just to ensure that women’s and minorities’ rights are honoured but also to secure all of India’s investments in various infrastructure projects and also assurance on connectivity of which Afghanistan is a key link.

Measures To Counter The Issue Of Drug Usage

India began its fight against drugs way back in the 1980s. To meet the obligation as a signatory to international conventions, including those of the United Nations, India enacted the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) in 1985 and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was established.

1. Prevention of drug trafficking has to be accorded greater priority. At present, it forms part of the larger mandate of the border guarding forces to ‘prevent smuggling and any other illegal activity’.
2. Interagency coordination: Coordination among various agencies needs to be improved especially for Information/intelligence gathering regarding drug trafficking, its analysis and dissemination capabilities need to be strengthened.
3. Various domestic laws enacted for the control of drug trafficking (for example NDPS 1985) should be implemented strictly and severe punishments should be accorded to drug stockists.
4. The issue of corruption among the border guarding forces as well as in other concerned agencies has to be dealt with pragmatically. While officials found guilty of drug trafficking should be punished severely, suitable reward systems should also be introduced to provide incentives to the personnel to work diligently towards preventing drug trafficking.
5. An e-portal, SIMS (Seizure Information Management System) was launched in 2019 for digitisation of pan-India drug seizure data under the NDPS Act. The National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse was constituted to meet the expenses for fighting the drug menace.
6. India could support an international conference, such as a Bonn Conference 2.0, to discuss the transition of power in Afghanistan with all notable stakeholders, including Afghan politician Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, and other former senior government officials still in Kabul.
7. India recently hosted a security conference with national security advisors of regional nations, including the Central Asian Republics, Russia and Iran, underscoring New Delhi’s continuing salience in the Afghan matrix.
8. The Delhi Declaration brought together like-minded nations, all of whom remain eager for an inclusive government in power in Afghanistan, rather than the current one that enjoys Pakistani patronage.

India has been enduring the scourge of drug trafficking for several decades. The country’s proximity to two of the world’s largest illicit opium-growing areas as well as various external and internal factors have contributed to it becoming a transit source and a destination for drugs. On the one hand, India has enacted stringent anti-drug laws, co-opted various voluntary organisations and sought to strengthen the physical security of its borders by various means, on the other hand, it has been seeking the cooperation of its neighbours and other countries through several bilateral and multilateral agreements. These efforts need to be complemented with more participative bottoms-up effort to end the criminal nexus while also pushing for behavioural change against drug abuse.

Cybercrime can be defined as “any criminal activity in which a computer (or networked device) is targeted and/or used. Fast-paced technological innovation and widespread and increasing accessibility of ICTs, including high-speed Internet and mobile devices with Internet connectivity, have transformed societies around the world along with the increased vulnerabilities of different sections of the societies to cyber crime, including children and senior citizens.

Threats To Children Due To Cybercrimes

According to UNICEF estimates, 71% of the total young population in the world is on the Internet. Moreover, one out of every three active users on the net is a child. These cybercrimes can severely affect one mentally, psychologically, and emotionally.

1. Children, in particular, have increased access to ICTs and, in recent decades, have tended to adopt these technologies from an early age, resulting in ICTs becoming thoroughly embedded in their lives.
2. The above context facilitates opportunities for the misuse of ICTs to abuse and exploit children. Children can easily engage with strangers and exchange large data files, while the possibilities for parental supervision and monitoring are restricted.
3. Children are also at particular risk as they often do not fully understand threats associated with the use of ICTs, or are not sufficiently aware that, once shared, control over such material is effectively waived.
4. Threats like Cyber Grooming, Cyber Bullying, Cyberstalking are increasingly becoming common. Online games and social media websites are becoming places where these cyber crimes are being perpetuated.
5. Though most of the children do not have their own bank accounts they frequently use their parents’ accounts for doing online transactions for gaming, shopping, etc.
6. Criminals use several fraudulent tactics like calling to offer you benefits with fake identity etc. to steal money from the accounts.

Threats To Senior Citizens Due To Cybercrimes

1. The scope of cybercriminals targeting senior citizens can be explained by the lack of experience and skills in using computers/technology among the elderly, against the growing popularity of computer systems held by people of the same age, and the fact that many of them have Debit/credit cards.
2. In the past, people in their 70s and 80s hardly ever used computers. Nowadays, people of the same age have social media accounts, surf the Internet, and use smartphones.
3. Unlike their younger counterparts, seniors are less aware of cyberthreats and, in many cases, lack the tools and experience to identify attacks and fraudulent attempts.
4. Even elderly people with no access to computers or smartphones can fall victim to cybercrimes such as in the case where their personal details have been leaked from a database and sold to criminals who can then exploit.
5. The cybercriminals reach out to those people in a non-suspicious manner – sending a legitimate-looking email, offering to connect on Facebook or by using a legitimate website that offers them some vacation or other prize and seeking their credit card number.
6. Another favorite method of criminals is impersonating “official” entities – government officials, municipalities, and various authorities while exploiting the trust (or innocence) of those veteran citizens and fraudulently obtaining their details.
7. In addition, this population is exposed to “normal” cybercrime – phishing, infection by malware, and theft of personal information.
8. The only difference is that the likelihood of this population recognizing such an attack is extremely slim, as the ability of people in this age group to understand that they have been compromised and to seek assistance is minimal.

Non-policing Measures To Tackle Cybercrime Challenges

1. Tools and mechanisms for international cooperation include mutual legal assistance treaties, direct law enforcement cooperation, multi-agency partnerships, forums for informationsharing, and informal direct law enforcement cooperation.
2. Specific tools can be employed for detection and investigation, such as the use of digital forensic techniques, automated search, image analysis, and image databases, data mining, and analytics.
3. The private sector is also a key actor in the prevention of such crimes. Electronic service providers may engage in this respect through varying degrees of self-regulation, including by Internet service providers, self-monitoring by travel and tourism companies, and the creation of financial coalitions.
4. Parents, guardians, child educators, and civil society are a further vital component in combating the problem, including in supporting children in understanding and handling online risks, the “flagging” of certain material online, the creation of telephone hotlines for reporting, and contributions towards education and psycho-social methods of prevention.
5. For Senior Citizens, it’s worthwhile explaining to them some basic concepts and providing them with some examples of criminal or fraudulent online activities for them to learn from and avoid.
6. Any communication from a party that they do not know personally should be treated with caution. It’s wise to assume all profiles on social networks are fake until proven otherwise.
7. If there is any suspicion, the elderly should call “a responsible adult”: if requests are made to provide contact information, it is advisable to consult a person who is well-versed in security to see that the site is genuine.

If something looks too good to be true, it’s probably not true: This old adage is just as true in the online world as it is in the physical world. People should resist those tempting offers that pop up while browsing for weird apps that install themselves on the mobile device and avoid those people who offer big.